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Talbot I Belthion
Talbot I Belthion (Talbot the Fierce) was the first monarch of Dorio, uniting the warring Dorian states and beginning the nation's conquering of much of the Alarean continent. Early life Talbot was born to Steppen Belthion and Geraldine Alkesman in 34 BT, four years after the death of Armand III and the collapse of the Riccian Empire. For much of his childhood, Talbot and his family were forced to flee from the later stages of the redpox plague and then from raids by the impoverished Riccians. The Belthions finally settled in the city of Cantingvale, and in his young adulthood, Talbot became a warrior under Elmont Cabalon in the Interdorian War. Talbot was an adept soldier, and over the course of the war was able to become a close confidant of the Cabalon family. In 4 BT, he advised Lord Julian Cabalon to start holding peace meetings with Helman Halleran; the talks went slowly, but after several months Talbot was able to hammer out a treaty that both lords accepted. Talbot becomes highly popular with the Dorian people for ending the Interdorian War, and at the urging of many, including Helman Halleran (who by this point was becoming Talbot's close personal friend), Talbot declares himself the king of Dorio. Reign There was little opposition to Talbot's crowning in 2 BT. For his first two years, Talbot mostly trained and built a strong Dorian army, and formally initiated the Dorian Reign with his military invasion of the Duchy of Bicana. After that, Talbot spent the entirety of his reign in a series of land wars to expand the Dorian territory: first Bicana, then Kenkor and Leguna, and was in the process of fighting in the Barony of Tristania when he was killed in the Battle of Caniria. Under Talbot, most of the adult males in the peasantry were serving in the military; this led to an upsurge of working women, as for the most part only women remained at home and on the farms. Economically, Dorio suffered under Talbot, as the series of wars put a heavy drain on the coffers of the nobles. However, the nobles were enthusiastically behind Talbot, and only considered revolution in 7 DR, when they believed Talbot to have died somewhere in Leguna. Personal life Talbot married Ethel Martack, a noblewoman of southern Dorio, in 15 BT, after returning from his first successful tour in the Interdorian War. Their first child, Laurel, was born in 14 BT. Talbot's next child was his heir, Talbot II, who was born in 12 BT, and his third and final child was Helman. All three lived into adulthood. Talbot was rather an inattentive father, constantly away fighting his wars, although when he returned from the conquest of Kenkor he took Talbot II to Leguna with him. Laurel and Helman, however, had no real male role models for much of their life. As a gift to his wife, Talbot granted the city of Cabalonvale to the Martack family. Controversy In recent years, there has been historical skepticism about the timeline of Talbot's conquests. Considering the main work used as a reference for the timeline is Osurpae Talbotiani, a book commissioned by Talbot's own son, some historians have speculated that the chronology has been altered to paint Talbot in a more favorable light. (The supposed one-year conquest of Bicana is an oft-cited example.) The most common historical theory holds that the supposed Dorian "rest period" in Leguna, from 8 DR to 12 DR, was actually further time on the battlefield. This theory, promulgated by historian Desmond Fieldman, suggests that the conquest of Bicana was actually a three-year affair, pushing back the capture of Kenkor to 7 DR, and that Leguna took four years to conquer, pushing its year of conquest to 11. Category:Dorians Category:Belthion Family Category:Monarchs Category:Military Leaders